Learning express Write Better Essays 2e

WRITE
BETTER ESSAYS
IN JUST 20 MINUTES A DAY



WRITE
BETTER
ESSAYS
IN JUST 20
MINUTES A DAY
2nd Edition

®

NEW

YORK


Copyright © 2006 LearningExpress, LLC.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published in the United States by LearningExpress, LLC, New York.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Write better essays in just 20 minutes a day—2nd ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Write better essays in just 20 minutes a day / Elizabeth Chesla. 1st ed.
© 2000.
ISBN 1-57685-546-5
1. English language—Rhetoric—Problems, exercises, etc. 2. Essays—Authorship—
Problems, exercises, etc. 3. Report writing—Problems, exercises, etc. I. Chesla,

Elizabeth L. Write better essays in just 20 minutes a day. II. LearningExpress
(Organization) III. Title: Write better essays in just twenty minutes a day.
PE1471.C47 2006
808.4—dc22
2006000438
Printed in the United States of America
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Second Edition
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Contents

INTRODUCTION

1

PRETEST

7

SECTION 1

Planning the Essay

17

LESSON 1

Thinking about Audience and Purpose

19

LESSON 2

Understanding the Assigned Topic

25

LESSON 3

Brainstorming Techniques: Freewriting and Listing

31

LESSON 4

More Brainstorming Techniques: The 5 W’s and Mapping

37

LESSON 5

Choosing a Topic and Developing a Thesis

43

LESSON 6

Outlining and Organizational Strategies

49

LESSON 7

More Organizational Strategies

57

SECTION 2

Drafting the Essay

63

LESSON 8

Thesis Statements and the Drafting Process

65

LESSON 9

Paragraphs and Topic Sentences

71

LESSON 10

Providing Support

77

LESSON 11

Strategies for Convincing

85

v


– CONTENTS–

LESSON 12

Introductions

93

LESSON 13

Conclusions

99

SECTION 3

Revising, Editing, and Proofreading the Essay

105

LESSON 14

Revising: The Big Picture

107

LESSON 15

Revising Paragraphs

113

LESSON 16

Editing

121

LESSON 17

Proofreading

131

SECTION 4

Taking an Essay Exam

141

LESSON 18

Preparing for an Essay Exam

143

LESSON 19

Drafting, Editing, and Proofreading

151

LESSON 20

Sample Essay Exam Questions and Answers

157

POSTTEST

163

ANSWER KEY

173

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

193

vi


Introduction

Y

ou probably can’t even count how many essays you’ve written for your high school classes. There are
essays assigned in English and composition classes, history and civics classes, and language classes.
Many electives even require essays. If you’re a junior or senior, you know that the stakes for essay writing keep getting higher. You’ll probably have to write one in class as part of an exam, and/or have a large part of
your grade based on an essay. But they’re not just worth grades—essays are also a part of high-stakes tests like the
ACT, Regents’, and SAT; and they’re required on college applications.
How can you improve your essay-writing skills, not only to get better grades, but also to score higher on tests
and boost your chance for admission to the college you’d like to attend? This book offers a step-by-step plan that
can be completed in just a few weeks.

How to Use This Book
There are 20 lessons in this book, each of which should take you about 20 minutes to complete. If you read five
chapters a week and complete the practice exercises carefully, you should become a more powerful and effective
essay writer in one month.
Although each lesson is designed to be an effective skill builder on its own, it is important that you proceed
through the book in order, from Lesson 1 through Lesson 20. The material in Section 2 references and builds on
what you’ll learn in Section 1, as Sections 3 and 4 reference and build on Sections 1 and 2. Writing is a process—

a series of skills, strategies, and approaches that writers use to create effective essays. In reality, this process isn’t
as linear this book presents. You might prefer to brainstorm first, and then write a thesis statement—and that’s
fine. However, once you understand the writing process, you can adapt it to your unique working style and to each
specific writing situation you encounter.

1


– INTRODUCTION–

The first section of the book, Planning the Essay, covers the basic prewriting steps that are essential to effective writing. Drafting the Essay, Section 2, shows you how to take your ideas and formulate a solid working draft.
In the third section, Revising, Editing, and Proofreading the Essay, you’ll learn how to shape your draft into a clear,
effective essay. Taking an Essay Exam, the fourth section, provides strategies for writing under the pressure of a
ticking clock, whether for an in-class exam or a test such as the ACT or SAT.
Each lesson includes several practice exercises that allow you to work on the skills presented in that lesson.
The exercises aren’t simply matching or multiple-choice questions. Instead, you’ll practice what you’ve learned by
doing your own writing. These practice exercises are central to your success with this book. No matter now many
examples you see, you really won’t benefit fully from the lessons unless you complete the exercises. Remember to
keep your practice answers as you work through the book—some lessons will ask you to further develop ideas generated in earlier practice exercises.
To help you stay on track, use the sample answers and explanations for the practice exercises at the back of
the book. Check them at the end of each lesson, reading the explanations carefully as you review your response
to the exercise. Keep in mind that there is no single correct answer to most exercises. What you’ll find instead are
suggested answers that contain all the elements called for in the exercise.
You’ll also find practical skill-building ideas at the end of each lesson—simple thinking or writing tasks you
can do to sharpen the skills you learned in that lesson. Some of these exercises ask you to read an essay and examine it for a specific element or detail. You can find essays in many places, such as an English or composition class
textbook, or on the Internet. If you have trouble finding appropriate writing, check the list of suggested reading
in the Additional Resources section at the end of the book.
To gauge your progress, we’ll begin with a writing pretest. You should take the test before you start Lesson
1. Then, after you’ve finished Lesson 20, take the posttest. The tests are different but comparable, so you’ll be able
to see just how much your understanding of the writing process and your writing skills have improved.

Different Types of Essays
What makes writing both interesting and challenging is that every writing task is unique. Writing is communication: You are expressing ideas about a subject to an audience for a purpose. Each time you sit down to write, one
or more of these three elements will be different, creating a unique writing situation.
Essays are one of many different forms, or genres, of writing. While there are many different kinds of essays,
general skills and strategies apply to all of them. This book will teach you those skills and strategies and help you
practice them. Specifically, we’ll help you apply those skills and strategies to three essay types:
■
■
■

The college application essay
Essays for high school and college classes (timed and untimed)
The standardized, timed essay exam (such as ACT, GED, Regents’, SAT)

Section 4 of this book (Lessons 18, 19, and 20) extensively covers the standardized, timed essay exams. Here is more
information about how to approach and successfully complete application and class assignment essays.

2


– INTRODUCTION–

The College Application Essay

Most colleges and universities require students to submit a written essay with their application. The nearly 300
schools that use the Common Application (www.commonapp.org) present five topics from which you must select
and write on one. Other schools use similar types of topics, or even ask you to come up with your own.
No matter the topic, though, the purpose of this essay remains the same: to reveal something personal about
you that will give the admissions department a better idea of who you are and why they should accept you. This

isn’t the time to wow your reader with your insights into current social problems or the poetry of the seventeenth
century. Your audience, an admissions officer, want to learn about you. A successful college application essay transforms you from a two-dimensional applicant into a dynamic, three-dimensional “real” person. And in most cases,
the more real you are to the admissions officer, the more likely it is that he or she will accept you.
Of course, the application essay also gives the reader a sense of how well you can communicate in writing,
and that ability is crucial to your academic success. After all, admissions officers are not only looking to see if you’re
a good fit for the university—they also want to see that you’ll be able to handle their curriculum and that you can
read and write effectively at the college level.
Here are some Common Application topics and writing requirements found on most other applications:
1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced, and its
impact on you.
2. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
3. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you and describe that influence.
4. Describe a character in fiction, an historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has
had an influence on you.
5. A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix.
Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity
in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
6. Topic of your choice.
7. Submit a writing sample.
“Topic of your choice” and “submit a writing sample” allow you to recycle something you’ve written for a class,
or even another application (just be sure to change or delete any references to another school).
No matter which topic you select, remember that it is meant simply as a vehicle for revealing something about
you, not the historical figure, issue of international importance, or person who has influenced you. But being personal can be tricky. Anything and everything in your life or about your personality is not appropriate admissionsessay material. College admissions officers note that the worst essays are depressing and/or paint an unflattering
picture of the applicant. Think of it this way: Your job in the essay is to get the reader to like you. Don’t hand him
or her a reason to reject you by revealing negative information. Your goal is to sound competent and responsible.

3


Tips for Success

Here are a few other specific strategies to help you write a winning college application essay:
■

■

■

■

Avoid clichés. The typical admissions officer reads hundreds of essays each winter. You won’t stand out,
and you’ll run the risk of boring him or her, if you write about a subject also chosen by dozens of other students. What’s been done too many times before? Here are a few subjects virtually guaranteed to bore your
audience: how you’ve been influenced by a famous person, the death of a grandparent, losing the big game,
why you want peace in the Middle East, etc.
Think local, not global. The small, uniquely personal experience is more revealing than your response to 9/11
or your plan to solve global warming. “Local,” or small, also guarantees that your essay will be original.
Choose a subject that you alone have found significance in, and you’ll have a better chance of writing the
kind of essay they’re looking for.
Don’t brag or overstate your importance. There is a fine line between appropriately advocating for yourself
and your talents, and sounding like a walking ego. In general, don’t take credit for anything you shouldn’t
(did your team really win the championship because of your leadership skills?).
Avoid offensive topics. You don’t know if your essay will be read by a 20-something, a 70-something, Democrat or Republican, male or female, gay or straight, white or black, Christian or Buddhist. Therefore, the risk
of offending this unknown reader is great. You should steer clear of touchy subjects, and be careful not to
dismiss or critique the other side of your argument while laying out your own.

Essays for High School and College Classes

In almost every high school or college class, you can expect at least part, if not all, of your evaluation for the term
to be based on your written work. In a college literature class, for example, 100% of your grade will probably be
based on two out-of-class essays, an in-class midterm, and a final essay, which may be a timed exam. In a political science class, your midterm and final exams might include multiple-choice, short answer, and essay questions.
Your success in school depends heavily on your ability to write effectively, both in and out of the classroom.

Types of Essay Assignments
Essay assignments in high school and college classes will be as varied as the instructors who teach them. Most
assignments, however, will fall into one of two categories:
1. The Personal Essay
In composition classes and in college placement exams, you will often be asked to write an essay based on a
personal experience or observation. Here are two examples:
Alison Lurie wrote, “Long before I am near enough to talk to you in the street or at a party, you announce your
personality and opinions to me through what you are wearing. By the time we meet and converse, we have
already spoken to each other in an older and more universal language: the language of clothing.” Write an essay
in which you agree or disagree with this statement. Use evidence from your personal experience, observations,
or reading to support your position.

4


Tips for Success
Here are some strategies for successful high school and college essays:
■
■

■

■

Fulfill the assignment. Have a clear thesis that directly responds to the assignment, and develop it as required.
Provide solid support. Whether you’re writing a personal essay or an analysis essay, you need to show readers that your thesis is valid. Support your ideas with specific examples, evidence, and details.
Be correct. You need to convey your ideas clearly. Make sure your sentences are clear and free of errors in
grammar and mechanics.
Write with style. Most of your essays will be on the formal side, but that doesn’t mean they have to be dull
and dry. Choose interesting words that state exactly what you mean, including vivid verbs and specific adjectives and adverbs.

Describe a time when you presented yourself as believing in something you really did not believe in. Why did
you present yourself that way? What were the consequences, if any, of this misrepresentation? How would you
present yourself in a similar situation today? Explain.
2. The Analysis Essay
In most other classes, essay assignments will often ask you to analyze specific texts, ideas, events, or issues.
Here are three examples from different disciplines:
From a religious point of view, what is truth? Use examples from two different religions to support your answer.
Analyze a local television news program. What stories and events get coverage? How are these stories and events
covered? What values and beliefs about America, about the world, and about television and its viewers do you
think the news program’s coverage reflects?
What illusions does Renoir’s film La Grande Illusion refer to? Discuss those illusions and how the historic
events that led to World War I helped foster them.

5



Pretest

B

efore you begin this book, it’s a good idea to find out how much you already know and how much
you need to learn about the essay-writing process. This test is designed to help you do that. It consists of two parts. Part 1 contains 20 multiple-choice questions addressing several key components
in this book. Part 2 asks you to write your own essay and evaluate it according to the criteria provided.
You can use the space on the pages following Part 2 to record your answers and write your essay. Or, if you
prefer, simply circle the answers directly for Part 1. Obviously, if this book doesn’t belong to you, use separate sheets
of lined paper to write your responses.
Take as much time as you need for Part 1 (although 20 minutes is an average completion time). When you’re
finished, check your answers against the answer key at the end of this book. Each answer tells you which lesson

deals with the concept addressed in that question. Set aside another 30 minutes to complete Part 2.

7



– LEARNINGEXPRESS ANSWER SHEET–

1.
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7.

a
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a
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d
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e



– PRETEST –

Part 1
1. All essays should be about five or six paragraphs long.
a. true
b. false
2. The best place in an essay for the thesis statement is generally
a. the first sentence in an essay.
b. the last sentence in an essay.
c. the end of the introduction.
d. in the third paragraph.
3. A good introduction should do which of the following?
a. grab the reader’s attention
b. state the thesis
c. provide the main supporting ideas for the thesis
d. both a and b
e. all of the above
4. Your relationship with your readers has an effect on how you write your essay.

a. true
b. false
5. Which of the following best describes the problem with the following paragraph?
Sullivan studied 25 city playgrounds. He found several serious problems. The playgrounds were dirty. They
were also overcrowded. They were also dangerous. Many parks had broken glass everywhere. Many parks also
had broken equipment.
a. lack of variety in sentence structure
b. grammatical errors
c. lack of transitions
d. poor word choice
6. Which organizational strategy does the paragraph in question 5 use?
a. compare and contrast
b. chronology
c. problem ➞ solution
d. order of importance

11


– PRETEST –

7. Read the following essay assignment carefully.
Some say “ignorance is bliss.” Others claim that ignorance is a form of slavery and that only knowledge can set
you free. With which view do you agree? Explain your answer.
Determine which sentence below best describes the kind of essay you should write.
a. Explain the difference between “ignorance” and “knowledge.”
b. Explain which belief you concur with and why.
c. Explain how you think we can improve education.
d. Discuss the evils of slavery.
8. Which of the following organizational patterns applies to all essays?

a. order of importance
b. cause and effect
c. assertion ➞ support
d. problem ➞ solution
9. A thesis is best defined as
a. the prompt for an essay.
b. the main idea of an essay.
c. an essay that is at least three pages long.
d. the way a writer introduces an essay.
10. In the following paragraph, the first sentence is best described as which of the following?
More and more Americans are turning to alternative medicine. The ancient art of aromatherapy has gained a
tremendous following, particularly on the West Coast. Acupuncture, the traditional Chinese art of “needle therapy,” has doubled its number of active practitioners in the past decade. And holistic medicine—treating the
whole body instead of just one part—is so popular that some HMOs now even pay for holistic care.
a. a transition sentence
b. a topic sentence
c. a supporting idea
d. a thesis
11. In the paragraph in question 10, the second sentence is best described as which of the following?
a. a transition sentence
b. a topic sentence
c. a supporting idea
d. a thesis
12. Which of the following should a conclusion NOT do?
a. Bring in a new idea.
b. Restate the thesis in fresh words.
c. Provide a sense of closure.
d. Focus on the reader’s emotions.

12

– PRETEST –

13. Words and phrases like meanwhile, on the other hand, and for example are known as
a. passive words.
b. assertions.
c. modifiers.
d. transitions.
14. Which of the following strategies is particularly useful during an essay exam?
a. brainstorming
b. freewriting
c. outlining
d. journaling
15. Brainstorming typically takes place during which step in the writing process?
a. planning
b. drafting
c. proofreading
d. revising
16. Revising and proofreading are interchangeable terms.
a. true
b. false
17. Support for a thesis can come in which of the following forms?
a. specific examples
b. expert opinion
c. anecdotes
d. both a and b
e. a, b, and c
18. Never use a one-sentence paragraph.
a. true
b. false

19. What is the main problem with the following sentence?
Newman lost the election because of the fact that the opponent whom he ran against had a lot more money
for ads.
a. It’s a run-on sentence.
b. It’s not properly punctuated.
c. It’s unnecessarily wordy.
d. It lacks parallel structure.
e. There is no problem with this sentence.

13


– PRETEST –

20. Which of the following strategies will make an essay more convincing?
a. avoiding run-on sentences
b. acknowledging counterarguments
c. providing specific examples and details
d. both b and c
e. both a and c

Part 2
Set a timer for 30 minutes. When you’re ready to begin, carefully read the following essay assignment. Use the space
provided to write your essay. Stop writing when 20 minutes have elapsed, even if you haven’t completed your essay.
When you’re finished, look at the scoring chart in the answer key to estimate your essay’s score.
Essay Assignment

Many people have been profoundly affected by great works of art. Describe a work of art—a book, a movie, a photograph, a drawing, a painting, a song, or a musical composition—that had a powerful impact on your life. What
work of art was it? How did it affect you? Why?

14


– PRETEST –

15


– PRETEST –

16


S E C T I O N

1

Planning
the Essay

W

hile creativity and inspiration can play an important role in good
essay writing, planning, drafting, and revision are critical. Whether
you have to write an essay in class, during a test, or at home, getting
down to the business of writing means focusing on these three things. In this section, you’ll
learn planning strategies that will not only improve the effectiveness and quality of your
writing, but will also help eliminate many of the frustrations writers face. In addition, they’ll
benefit your reader by showing him or her how the various points you make in your essay
work together and how they support your thesis.

When you begin your essay with planning, you will have guidance and direction
through the writing process, especially if you are in a timed situation. Planning lets you
see how your many developing ideas fit within a framework, and clearly maps out any type
of essay you are required to write.

17



L E S S O N

1

Thinking about
Audience and
Purpose
LESSON SUMMARY
The first step toward effective essay writing is to know why and for
whom you’re writing. This lesson explains how to understand your
audience and purpose and how these two factors affect your writing.

I

magine you’ve just had an amazing experience: You were able to save someone’s life by performing CPR.
You want to share the experience with three people: your father, your best friend, and the admissions officer at your first-choice college. How will you describe what happened? Will that description be the same
for each person? Probably not. Although the subject remains a constant, each person is a different audience, requiring different word choices, levels of formality, and tone.
Because you are sharing the experience with these three people for different reasons, the purpose of your
description changes, too. You might tell your father to let him know that his advice about taking a CPR course
was invaluable. To your friend, you might stress the emotions the experience evoked. In your college application
essay, you place an emphasis on the experience’s revelation of your competent and responsible nature.

Audience and purpose not only determine how you write; they shape your content, or what you write as well.
Therefore, the first step to writing better essays is to understand who you are writing for and why you are writing.

19